Selkirk Saints drop two of three in Alberta

Selkirk Saint Logan Proulx fires a shot on Keyano Huskies goaltender Jeff Puddephatt during an exhibition game in Castlegar earlier this month.

The BC Intercollegiate Hockey League’s Selkirk College Saints aren’t used to losing, much less back-to-back games, but it happened over the weekend on a pre-season trip to Edmonton to face teams in the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference.

Things started well Friday with a 3-2 victory over Concordia University at the NAIT arena, which extended Selkirk’s exhibition winning streak to three games following a pair of wins the previous weekend at home against Keyano College, which also competes in the ACAC.

But on Saturday, the Saints dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to the defending league champion Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. Then on Sunday, they fell 6-4 to Grant MacEwan University.

The trip saw Selkirk’s returning players face off against a pair of ex-teammates, as 2012/13 captain Jordan Wood and two-year blueliner Justin Sotkowy now play for NAIT and McEwan respectively.

The Saints have two more pre-season matches left, including a date against Trinity Western at the Nelson and District Community Complex on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

On Saturday the two teams will play a re-match in Castlegar.

Selkirk, which last season set several records en route to a 21-3-0 record and league championship, opens its regular season October 4 at home against Eastern Washington University. The same night they’ll raise their banner to the rafters of the Castlegar recreation complex.

Afterward the Saints play their next three games at home before heading to Kamloops to take on Thompson River University on October 25.